Cases of sexual violence are not reported due to isolation

Flagrant Units of Ecuador registered 186 cases from March 16 to April 4. In that same period of 2019, 835 were processed.

With compulsory isolation due to the coronavirus, flagrancy units nationwide receive victims who report being raped, abused or harassed daily. From March 16 to April 4, 186 cases of sexual violence are processed.

For the Prosecutor’s Office, most of these events occurred while the victims were in their homes.

Guayas, Pichincha, Esmeraldas, Imbabura and Pastaza are the provinces in which more crimes of this type have been registered.

For example, in Esmeraldas, the Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against a man for the alleged crime of rape against an 11-year-old girl. The suspect would be his stepfather, who fled but was captured by the Police at a neighbor’s house.

After the hearing, a judge ordered preventive detention and issued a ballot for help in favor of the minor. According to article 171 of the Comprehensive Criminal Code, the crime of rape is punishable by imprisonment for 19 to 22 years.

For the prosecutor Luis Pesantes the gynecological medical-legal examination and a psychological evaluation are essential to accuse.

On April 1, in the province of Orellana, a 14-year-old boy was charged because he apparently raped his cousin who would have an intellectual disability. The offense would have been registered in the house in which both were quarantined.

The judge in charge of the case ordered the adolescent’s preventive detention.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, confinement would be one of the causes that prevents this type of event from being reported. In relation to the same period of 2019, the current number of cases of sexual violence is lower. Last year it reached 835.

Andrés Aguirre, coordinator of the Victims Unit of the Public Defender, also agrees that there is a group of people who, due to home isolation or fear of reprisals from the aggressor, have not reported, so a website was enabled so that people can tell their case in a reserved way. The idea is that the agency then channels the complaint. The same initiative was adopted by the Ombudsman’s Office, who also suggested contacting the UPC closest to the address.

Days ago, the Council of the Judiciary ordered that during the health emergency, judicial officials attend to this type of situation 24 hours a day. The idea is that despite the quarantine, the aggressors can be prosecuted.

Source: Prosecutor’s Office, COIP, El Comercio, social networks